Table-top member for kitchen units



April 24, 1951 G. L. c. EARLE TABLE-TOP MEMBER FOR KITCHEN UNITS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 21, 1945 "NIH INVENTOR. Gum/v L @[ABLE EFF.

BY I,

M m T A f G. L. c. EARLE TABLE-TOP MEMBER FOR KITCHEN UNITS April 24, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21, 1945 1 I I v I l, l/ I /////////l l/l/ INVENTOR.

60mm LL'f/IBLE BY (46,4 I Ma n N M T T A Patented Apr. 24, 1951 Guyon L. G. Earle, Forest Hills, N. I

ts, to -Ee r o ,Kitohoo Uni by mesn a s snmo k N. Yo a corp rat on orpora on New r o Nsw York 3L, .assi non Application ru es-1, 1945, Serial No. 60i),8,00

2 Claims.

s invention relates to table-tori m mbers andmore specificall o tabl -top ite a ors for :kitchen units. 7

It is an ob ect o this invent on to ovide improved tab eto memb r o a ki c en unit soon as. fo x m e ne luding s elements r fri at s nk to o an a dith -11mi s compar me or one o m e of th s e en s- Itis another object of this invention to pro.- vide an improved metal table-top member which be quickly assembled and removed from the kitchen unit of which it forms a part.

It is another object of this'invention to provide an improved continuous table=top member f r a ref i ra a sink a d a stove ositi e adjacent one another.

, It is another object of this invention to provide a novel table-top member for a kitchen unit of the set-back type, that is, one having an upper portion the front plane of which is placed atfthe rear of the front plane of the lowermost portion.

In Patent 2 349,541 which was issued May 23, 1944, to Guyon I4. C. Earle, there is disclosed a combination kitchen unit of the set-back type including a refrigerator, stove, sink, dish and towel drier, table-top and cabinets. The unit includes a lower portion, an intermediate portion and an upper portion, the lower portion comprising the lower parts of the refrigerator and of the stove, the towel drier and the sink,

"the intermediate portion comprising the upper parts of the stove and refrigerator, the dish 'j rier and cabinets and'the upper portion comprisingthe cabinets, one or more of which may havea flue or flues therein. The table-topmember is mounted above the lower portion and in :front of the intermediate and may be integral with'the sink. "The present invention, in one of its most important aspects, relates to an improved table-top and sink member especially adapted'for use in a kitchen unit of the type "briefly described above.

In accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention, given by way of example for illustrative purposes, there is provided a table-top member, which may be of one-piece construction adapted to be mounted in front of -and over therespective upper and lower portions of a set-back refrigerator andin front of and over a set-back stove and in front of a dishdrying compartment. A sink, is provided front of the dish-drying compartment and is integral "with the table-top member. This table-top member has an upwardlyprojecting edge which jfits underthe separate splash. members of v the refrigerator, dish-dryer and stove in such a way ,that water will not run up under these splash me b s,- through the member of .the dish-.dryer The faucets for the sink project oush an othe sui able material ca e used- The Stove ov p eferab y v nts t r gh the sp a h of e tov un V The invention will be more readily understood y ef g t he follow ng descr ption t ken in co ect with he ac omp nyin drawin s o ing a p r e eo i which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a kitchen unit in ud n t ve re ri era dish ryo n cabinets and the table-top and sink member in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical partial cross-sectional view ta en thr ug h :e -riserator;

.Fig. 3 is a ve ca partia o os seotiona View taken through the stove; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical partial cross-sectional view taken through the dishedryer.

Referring more spec fically to e rawi s.

Fis- ,1 s ws by wa of exampl fo Pur oses of explaining the advantages of the invention, a kitchen unit ll) of the set-back type employns a ableop andsi member H inao r on e With the inven ion- The uni I s one n which e front p ane of he in ermed te por i l2 he o and hof nt a e o t e upp r port on vIt thereof are placed to the rear (or set-back f m) he ront pla e of the lower portion M of theunit, The lower portion I4 comprises the lower part l5 of a set-back refrigerator, the sink and the table-top member I I, a towel drying compartment 16, the lower portion H of a set- 'bac stoveand various cabinets I8. The intermediate portion '12 comprises the upper portion l9 of the refrigerator, a dish-drying compartmentZU, the upperportion-2l of the stove, and cabinets 22. The upper portion l3 of the unit comprises shelved cabinets 23. Thetable-top and sink member "I! includes a sink portion 24, a table-top portionZE and acut-out portion toprovidespace-for the burners 26 of the stove. The

entire unitpreferably rests onarecessed base 21.

A complete unit of the type briefly described above (but with a different table-top and sink member) is disclosed in the above-identified Ea P t n A su ta e so -b re rig ato is disclos d in E rl Pat n 31232 ssue March ,2, 19.43, ,a stove of the set-back type is d c b i Pat n .1.80A59. iss e No ombor 21, 19 9. to the s me in e o whi Patent 2,323, 29 issued August ,31 1943 discloses a.o i and to el r ineorransomootupper portion i v of ho eirisorotor ha a vertical splash member 21. Similarly the dishdrycr has a splash member 28 and the stove unit a splash member 29. While the members 2?, 2S and 29 may be one continuous member, in practice they are usually separate since the stove, refrigerator and dish-dryer units are made separately. Cooperating with an sliding up under all three of these splash members is the continuous table-top member I i which has an upturned edge 39 fashioned at such an angle or angles that water on the table-top will not flow under the splash because of the up-grade. The upturned back edge of the table-top will slip under the separate splash members.

In Fig. 2 the table-top member H is shown cooperating with the refrigerator unit. This unit has in its upper portion '19 a plurality of icecube trays 3f, 32 and 33 and in its lower base portion I5 a plurality of drawers 34. The tabletop member H has a surface 25 over the lower portion i5 and in front of the upper portion 19 which is flat except for the front edge 35 andthe upturned rear edge 30. The rear edge preferably :attains a higher level than the front edge so that -water on the surface 25 will pour onto the floor (where it can be mopped up) rather than under the splash member 21. I

The splash member 29 has a function somewhat similar to that of the splash member 27.

The former is mounted in front of the upper portion 2! of the stove unit (shown in Fig. 3) which 'may have an electric heater element (not shown) therein or which may receive heat from the lower portion of the stove or which may be a cabinet for appliances. It is provided with one or more .shelves 30. The upturned edge 35 of the tabletop member I! projects under the splash member 29, thus preventing water from getting under the splash. The splash 29 is provided with vents 45 which connect with a pipe 49 leading to the lower stove. This pipe 06 may be connected to the upper compartment 21 instead of to the vent slits 45 if desired.

The splash member 28 for the dish-dryer shown in Fig. 4 is pierced and preferably reinforced for the pipes of the faucets 3'! which are not connected in any way to the sink 24. The sink 24 can be punched or otherwise fabricated and later joined to the fiat portion of the table-top member H by any suitable means. A portion of the sink 24 preferably projects under and to the rear of the splash member 23 and this portion is covered by a top strip 38 which is attached to the upturned edge of the table-top member II which projects under the splash 29. The dish-dryer compartment contains one or more racks 39 for dishes and the like. The botoms 40 and M of the compartment 20 are slanted toward a short drainage pipe or passageway 42 which leads into the back of the sink. The front edge of the member H is lower than the upturned portion 30 of this member and also lower than the upper part of the pipe or pasageway 92. By this means, if the sink overflows, the water will spill on the floor at the front of the sink rather than flow up into the back of the dishdryer compartment.

When it seems advisable to replace the table-top II or remove for repairs one or more of the ele- 'ments making up the kitchen unit I0, the table- 4 top member H can be removed without diseri gaging any plumbing. Moreover the table-top and sink member H make a simple, sanitary junction with the refrigerator, dish-dryer and stove and ties these various elements together.

Various changes can be made in the embodiment described above without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dish-dryer and sink cabinet combination comprising a lower base cabinet portion having a sink therein, an upper portion including a dishdryin compartment the front plane of which portion is positioned to the rear of the front plane of the lower portion, said upper portion having a vertical splash member in the region of the top of said lower portion and a faucet projecting through said splash member and extending forwardly therefrom over the sink, and a table-top member attached to the upper front and side edges of said sink and having an upturned edge attached to the upper rear portion of said sink and which edge fits under said splash member to prevent water on said table-top member or in said sink from flowing under said splash member, said upturned edge being at an angle with respect to the table-top member which is much less than a right angle, whereby said tabletop member can be put on and taken off without disengaging the faucet.

2. A dish-dryer and sink cabinet combination comprising a lower base cabinet portion having a sink therein, an upper portion including a dishdryer compartment the front plane of which portion is positioned to the rear of the front plane of the lower portion, said upper portion having a vertical splash member in the region of the top of said lower portion and a faucet projecting through said splash member and extending forwardly therefrom over the sink, and a table-top member attached to, the upper front and side edges of said sink and having an upturned edge attached to the upper rear portion of said sink and which edge fits under said splash member to prevent water on said table-top member or in said sink from flowing under said splash member, said upturned edge being at an angle with respect to the table-top member which is much less than a right angle, whereby said table-top member can be put on and taken off without disengaging the faucet, said dish-drying compartment having a sloping bottom and a pasageway from said bottom to the rear of said sink, the top of said passageway being higher than the. portion of said table-top member in front of said sink, whereby water in said sink overflows at the front thereof rather than into said dish-drying compartment.

GUYON L. C. EARLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,246,313 Otte Nov. 13, 1917 1,860,617 Krause May 31, 1932 1,972,628 Lindemann et al. Sept. 4, 1934 2,010,790 Sakier Aug. 6, 1935 2,090,665 Carter Aug. 24, 1937 2,143,039 Stoddard Jan. 10, 1939 2,312,326 Earle Mar. 2, 1943 Earle Aug. 31, 1943 

